


Sometimes All I Think About Is You (Think About You and Me)

by 1Temmie_Official1



Series: Eric's ATLA One Shots [13]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Asexual Yue (Avatar), Author Is Sleep Deprived, Bisexual Katara (Avatar), Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Bisexual Suki (Avatar), Brown Haired Yue (Avatar), Changing Tenses, Chief Katara (Avatar), Fluff, Haiku, Happy Ending, Lesbian Azula (Avatar), Lesbian Yue (Avatar), M/M, Nonbinary Toph Beifong, Platonic Relationships, Poetry, Romantic Soulmates, Secret Relationship, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Yue (Avatar) Lives, Zukka Week 2021, but only sometimes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-26 08:00:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30102789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1Temmie_Official1/pseuds/1Temmie_Official1
Summary: Here is how it goes.Two soulmates meet. One has been chasing. One has been running away.A truce is made, adding to the count of others.This was supposed to happen.OrA Zukka soulmates au with some rairpairs too
Relationships: Aang/Teo (Avatar), Azula/Yue (Avatar), Katara/Suki (Avatar), Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Eric's ATLA One Shots [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1943566
Comments: 6
Kudos: 65





	Sometimes All I Think About Is You (Think About You and Me)

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly don't know why I haven't written a soulmates au yet. Or a secret relationship thing considering how much I love both.
> 
> Basically it starts out pretty normal but it gets more and more stylistic/poetic the more it progresses. You have been warned.

Soulmates.

Honestly, they were kind of bullshit. Scratch that, they were complete bullshit. 

Sokka knew that there were multiple types of soulmates. Romantic and platonic. People usually got platonic soulbonds between family, the almost-matching geometric waves, canoe, and sun that each member of Sokka's family shared attested to this. Sokka remembered the set of purple bell-heather that all three of his parents had. The three delicate blossoms had always fascinated Sokka and Katara when they were young. Katara would trace over them on their mother's wrist. Sokka's dad's was on his collarbone, right above his heart. Bato's was the funniest. It was placed in such a way that it seemed it was growing from behind his ear. The head, the heart, the hand.

Sokka remembered the moment that his mother passed. The Fire Nation was being driven away. It was going well. Suddenly, Bato put a hand to the side of his head, right on his soulmark. Hakoda clutched his chest. Sokka felt his ankle sting, right where he knew his family soul mark was.

Katara had wept for days. Bato kept away from mirrors, just to keep from looking at the wilted flower that was next to two healthy ones.

Sokka swore that he wouldn't let another one of his soul marks fade.

There were rules of thumb for soul marks. Usually, the more geometric your soulmark was, the more indicative of a platonic bond. On the back of Sokka's right shoulder was some kind of bird sitting in the grass, life-size. Woven between the cracks on its shell were orange flowers with five petals. It sounded complicated, it really wasn't. On the back of Sokka's right hand was a folded fan surrounded by a gold headpiece. It was something that was almost geometric, but that could have been the nature of the items themselves. There was a blue arrow that wrapped around his left ankle, and something like a green belt with a large gold charm in the center that was wrapped around his right ankle. A crescent moon on his left forearm. His family soul mark was on his left shoulder.

Sokka ignored them.

Until it felt like his shoulder soul mark was on fire. You usually didn't feel soul pains until they were _bad_. Sokka hadn't left his room that day. It still haunted him sometimes. He knew what burns meant. Fire Nation. His soulmate was captured by the Fire Nation. And it was _that_ which caused him to lose sleepless nights. It was rare for emotions to flow through bonds, but Sokka personally called a bluff on that. 

For Bird Soulmate, it was wanting. It was desperation and craving for something that they couldn't live without. It was that hunger that occasionally strayed through that made Sokka ache for his soulmate. Bird deserved better.

For Belt Soulmate, it was helplessness and anger. Sometimes it was glory, but the strength of the glory always crashed into something ten times worse in terms of helplessness and anger. Everything was tightly restrained. Sokka hoped that Belt could feel the comfort that Sokka sent them.

For Moon soulmate, it was longing. Longing for more than this life, but it was also a duty. Sokka understood what it was like to be trapped by your duty.

For Fan Soulmate, it was almost boredom. It was the want to do more, but the conflict of what would happen. Fan was a leader. Just like Sokka.

Arrow Soulmate was always quiet. Sokka worried about Arrow sometimes, but Sokka pushed it all away.

There wasn't much time to think about soul marks when you were in a war.

That is, until there was an iceberg that was just like the soulmark on Katara's palm. (He had seen that one often, it was a geometric and slightly abstract iceberg stylized with a swirl in the middle.) He was distrustful of this, you never knew with the Fire Nation. That was until he saw the blue arrows that were just like the ones on his ankle.

"You're arrow!" Sokka cried.

Aang (Arrow?) tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

Sokka showed the blue arrows on his ankle. "You're one of my soulmates. Arrow." Sokka gasped. "Katara, this is why he was always so quiet!"

Aang smiled. "Cool! I wonder which one you are!" Aang pulled up a sleeve. "Quick! Do any of these mean something to you?" There were three soul marks there. One of them was a long blue arrow that stretched down to the back of his palm- wait that was probably just a regular tattoo. The second was a small necklace just like Katara's. It was geometric, thank the spirits. He was not going to have his sister date at this age. The third was... it looked to be a fish combined with a ship maybe. Well. That was going to be a very interesting soulmate.

Katara spotted it before Sokka. "That's my mom's necklace." She touched it on her neck. Aang grinned. 

"That's great! I met _two_ of my soulmates in the same day!" He bound to his feet. "Okay, lemme introduce you to Appa!"

This is where things went downhill.

-

Here was how it went down. The Fire Nation arrived.

Sokka locked eyes with one of the soldiers.

Something flashed in his mind. This felt _right_.

Here's how it could have gone down.

They stop fighting. Sokka takes off his war paint. The soldier takes off his helmet. Sokka learns that his name is Zuko. He sees the black sword that runs down the length of his back, reflected in it is an ocean and night sky. Zuko sees the turtleduck on his back and remembers his mother. Zuko remembers his nation. Zuko remembers his sister. He remembers what it's like to care about something other than capturing the Avatar.

Sokka remembers the world. Sokka remembers his sister. Sokka remembers what it is like to care for someone that he isn't obliged to care for.

Zuko volunteers to teach the Avatar firebending. Sokka volunteers to learn about swords from Zuko.

They fight together and they fall into something deeper than love.

Here was how it actually went down.

The Fire Nation arrives.

Sokka locks eyes with one of the soldiers.

Something flashes in his mind. This feels _right_.

Sokka assumes it's because he's fighting the Fire Nation. He throws his boomerang. The soldier snaps his spear in half. He gets hit in the back of the head with the boomerang. Sokka never wipes his warpaint off. The helmet stays firmly on the soldier's head.

They don't speak to each other. They don't find out the truth.

-

There is a moment of recognition between the Water Tribe siblings when they saw a warrior girl. Sokka had grown familiar with the image of that headdress on the back of his hand, and Katara recognized the fan from her back (Sokka found it briefly odd that the warrior's fan and Katara's soul mark would match up almost exactly). "Hey, I know you! You're Fan!" Was probably the wrong thing to say, though.

The warrior scrunched up her face. "What's that mean?"

Sokka tried to take off his glove to show the soul mark. Aang airbended out of his bonds to help him. "Here you go!" Aang said, then airbended himself back into the bonds. Sokka took a moment to realize that everyone was staring at the Avatar. Sokka held up his soulmark as best he could to the warrior.

The warrior blinked in surprise. "Suki." She- Suki- introduced. She took off one of her gloves. There was a boomerang with something like paper behind it. Suki motioned for them to be cut free.

Katara locked eyes with Suki. There was an understanding. Sokka smiled. "I'm Sokka, your soulmate."

Suki narrowed her eyes at Sokka. In quick succession, she got out her fan and jabbed him in a spot on the shoulder. Sokka grasped it with a hiss. "What was that for?!"

Suki smiled. "I don't tolerate sexism."

Katara lit up with a laugh.

-

When Katara was being shown around Kyoshi Island, Sokka trained with the Kyoshi warriors. It was interesting to learn about Kyoshi. Kyoshi had fallen in love with a woman. Sokka had known that people did that- salt and sky, he had three parents as opposed to the 'regular' two. That circled back to his romantic soulmates. Suki could be his romantic soulmate (Aang was literally 12 and scrawny. Sokka doubted they were romantic.), but Sokka didn't know.

His parents had talked about the _moment_ that they met. Soulmates were a tricky thing. There was the inherent moment, but there were also things to be built on, that was what made a soul _bond_. Sokka feels something with Suki. He wants to know her more, romance her a bit, pull out that ol' Sokka Charm.

They have to leave all too soon.

(Sokka ignores the feeling of _wrong wrong wrong_ in his gut when he turns away from the soldier. Zuko. It's better to leave him nameless than to grow attached.)

-

There is a sadness that hangs in the air around them as they approach the Northern Air Temple. Sokka almost understands. Katara almost understands. Their culture is being wiped out. Scattered villages throughout the South. They live in the capital city. It can barely be called a village, especially when they're at war. All they have are people. All they have is Gran Gran, who tells the story of a woman who moved through the world like water. Her soulmate, who lived in the South until her death. Gran Gran understands that she was born in the North- that she can't tell the full story of their history, but she has woven herself in like a tapestry string. Something there for so long you don't know where it began, but you know that it contributes to the larger story.

Aang doesn't have even partial connections. Sokka and Katara convince him in vain that there must be nomads still, but for all their travels they've yet to see a trace of them. Sokka hopes that they're just good at staying unseen.

There are people as they approach. They watch in awe as Aang moves through the air the way that Katara moves with water. Sokka has known that bending wouldn't make him complete. He doesn't want to bend, he has his wits and his boomerang. But there's something mesmerizing in the way that Aang moves, and Sokka almost wants it for himself.

The people on the gliders land. There is someone about Aang's age if just a bit older, who is in a wheeled chair with flying contraptions on it. He is next to Aang when he lands.

Aang and the boy in the chair lock eyes.

"Do I know you?" The boy in the chair asks. Aang blinks.

"I don't know." He answers truthfully. Aang glances at the boy curiously. "Do you... do you want to know me?"

The boy smiles. "I'd love to."

And with those few words, there is an awakening. Slowly, the nomads across the nation join together. The people of the air begin to heal. A battle is fought. A temple is restored. Two soulmates have met.

(The next time a child is born to that temple, which is not until that next autumn, there is a shriek of shock when the wind that blows through the windows is powered not by the spirits but rather by a child.)

-

Here's how it goes.

There is a boy who travelled across the world. There is a girl who never left her home.

There is a boy who has a crescent moon on his left forearm. There is a girl who unknowingly puts her hand right there when she tells him that they can never be together.

There is a boy who tells her she's unhappy. There is a girl who knows.

There is a boy who rolls up a sleeve to show her his soul. There is a girl who leaves.

Here's how it goes.

There is a soldier and there is a warrior. Two princes of water and fire.

There is a soldier who wants to go home. There is a goal that needs to be achieved.

There is a truce.

Huh.

That wasn't supposed to happen.

"What's your name?" The soldier asks.

Sokka never wanted to learn his name. "Sokka." It falls from his lips like a prayer. "Of the Southern Water Tribe." He wears his home like a badge or a wound. It shows what he lost, what he left behind, all that he has to achieve.

They lock eyes, and Sokka feels _right_. "Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation." The soldier-prince says back. He's tensed. There is war that weighs on his shoulders. There is a home that weighs heavy on his heart.

Without thinking, Sokka puts his hand on the soldier-prince's cheek, thumb brushing against his lip. It's split. He is bruised. He's tired.

For a moment they stand like that, soaking each other in. One like petals to the sun. One like roots to the water.

The sun begins to burn and the water begins to flood.

Sokka drops his hand. "Why are you here." The soldier-prince asks and huffs like his face is red from the cold. Yue looks up.

"You." She says slowly. There is a mark on his neck, right where his neck and jaw meet. Sokka feels something strange watching the soldier-prince nervously gulp as Yue traces the shape. Yue tilts her head to get a better view of the soul mark. "That's the snowflake hairpiece my mother gave me before... she passed." She stares in awe for a moment. She keeps her hand on the soul mark in wonder.

The soldier-prince blinks awkwardly. "Uh. Can you uh." Yue tilts her head in confusion. "Your hand." The soldier-prince finally chokes out. Despite the low light, Sokka can see that he's blushing. Yue removes her hand. He catches a glimpse of something on Yue. Sokka feels a surge of that same something strange from before. "What's that on your neck?"

"The betrothal necklace?" Yue blinks. "Oh, the soul mark." It was a crown wreathed in flames. Fitting. The royalty was paired to each other. Yue gasped. "We're soulmates!"

The soldier-prince frowns slowly. "I guess we are."

Sokka groans. "Tui and La, not you too!"

There are two offended splashes from the pond.

-

Here's how it goes.

There is a spirit. There is a girl.

There is a fish that swims rapidly and quickly in confusion. There is a girl who would do anything if it were her duty.

There is a man driven mad with a goal. There is something dead in the pond.

There is a girl who would do anything if it were her duty.

There is darkness.

There is a battle. There is the rage of a soulmate who has been with the other for a millennia. There is bloodshed. There is suffering. There is _wrath_.

There is light.

There is a girl. There is a kiss.

There is nothing.

There are stars that light up the sky, illuminated by the light of the moon.

There are two soul marks that go black and white.

There is anger. There is rage.

There is a warrior. There is a soldier-prince.

There are scratching glares. There are no goodbyes.

There is the story of a girl who turns into the moon.

There is the rumour of the girl who turns into the moon.

There is a day.

There is mourning.

There is a girl who wakes in the spirit pool and wonders how long she had slept.

"I'm tired." Says the soldier-prince. He doesn't want to be a soldier anymore. So he is a prince? He is not a prince anymore, so he is nothing. Nothing goes to sleep on a raft.

Sokka turns his head to the sky. His soul mark on his back aches like a pulled muscle. For once, Bird doesn't feel angry anymore. Bird doesn't feel sad anymore. Bird doesn't feel desperate anymore. Bird feels numb.

(In the back of his mind, Sokka aches for Zuko.)

-

They stop meeting.

And each time, Sokka ignores that feeling of _wrong wrong wrong_ when he thinks of Zuko.

Here's how it goes.

Sokka goes into the swamp. There is a vision.

Sokka looks into the swamp.

He sees his love that he had just lost.

He sees the soldier-prince.

 _What_?

Sokka glares at the figure. "What are you doing here? Haven't you hurt us enough? Haven't you hurt me enough?" Sokka pushes down the sense of _right right right_ and forces himself to feel _wrong wrong wrong_.

The soldier-prince gives a smile. His hair is shorn short, a far cry from the strange ponytail he had worn, he wears Earth Kingdom browns. It looks unnatural on his face.

Sokka, despite his better wishing, stares at the soldier-prince's face. It's sharp. It's familiar. It's tired. There is a heaviness on his shoulders with no anger to hold it up. There are sleepless nights cradled under his eyes.

Sokka finds that he wants to care about the soldier-prince. "Go back to playing soldier, prince." He spits. He hopes this will drown out the feeling of _right right right_.

Zuko chuckles. Sokka feels wrong, and this time it isn't of his own desires. This isn't his soul- no. This isn't his enemy. This is something worse. "I'm neither soldier nor prince." Sokka sees something like microfractures. He gets the wild urge to trace them, to reach up and kiss his pain away. He doesn't.

Sokka is confused. "Then what are you."

Desperation cracks beneath the surface. Red ink the shade of his soul mark spills out of his eyes like tears. "I am nothing at all."

Sokka wants to reach out.

But there is nothing there.

-

Here was how it went.

Sokka felt overjoyed. This was amazing.

There was supposed to be a champion. Sokka couldn't wait for them to be pulverized by the Boulder.

And out walks a child.

Huh.

That wasn't supposed to happen.

And it was in that moment that Sokka felt truly in awe of benders. That 12-year-old child just... decimated the Boulder.

Sokka was devastated.

Aang is overjoyed.

Sokka recognizes something that they have. It was a championship belt. Quickly, Sokka rolled up his pants to look at his ankle and confirm his suspicions. It was the same.

Holy fuck.

His soul mate (obviously platonic) was blind and could kick his ass literally without looking.

Sokka realized that there was more to Belt than met the eye (pun unintended). If this was the glory...

Suddenly all the pieces slipped into place. 

Oh Sokka was going to _so_ beat up Belt's parents.

-

It had felt like, for a while, that Sokka was floating. He hadn't gotten the opportunity to get his thoughts in order, and that sucked ass. Poetry helped. It was a way to keep that disconnectedness while grounding him to put it to paper. His platonic soulmates were cool, they were developing friendships quickly. Oh, that's why one of the things on Suki's soul mark for him was a paper. He was a poet. Sokka shook his head to clear his thoughts. The words were blocked tonight. Time away from Zuko hadn't done him well.

"What are you doing?" Toph asked. They hadn't covered their soul marks. Out of all of them, their soul marks were the most interesting. Soul Marks usually blended with the skin, smooth and undetectable unless you saw them. Toph's were raised against their skin, something traceable. Toph's mark for Sokka was a smooth section of skin on the palm of their hand, almost the same texture as his boomerang. Katara's soul mark for Toph was a large section of Earth. It was pretty cool, but Sokka's got him spoilers for who won the Earth Rumble 6. Sokka's mind caught up to Toph's question.

Sokka glanced up. "Writing." The prose was simple. Five-seven-five. He had heard of it from the Earth Kingdom poets. Sokka loved poetry. Tonight's stanza was about none other than Zuko. Zuko wasn't a soldier, he wasn't a prince. Zuko was... Zuko. Sokka just hopes that Zuko won't care next time ( _if there ever is a next time_ a dark part of his mind whispers). _Golden flames like yours. / I want to see them again. / Just to extinguish._

"What do you do that for?" Toph asked, their snark clear. Sokka shrugged. Toph sighed. "Just read it to me." Suddenly Sokka felt embarrassed about his hate-poem as if it were something more than just a poem about how much he hated the firebender.

Sokka shrugged once more. "You won't like it."

Toph rolled their eyes. "Does it _look_ like I care?" Their expression was one of pure boredom.

Sokka observed them for a moment. "No."

"Then read it, Snoozles."

Sokka sighed, then began.  
" _Golden flames like yours._  
I want to see them again.  
Just to extinguish." The prose was bad, but Sokka didn't care. It was haiku. Literally, no one cared.

Toph was quiet for a moment. "Wow. I didn't know you liked a firebender."

Sokka flushed and spluttered. "What?! No! He's my enemy! _Extinguish_?" He quoted from his poem. "Does that sound romantic to you?"

Toph shrugged. "I dunno. You got a lotta repression goin' on there."

Sokka exploded. "I am not repressing anything!"

Toph stood, putting their hands up in surrender. "Whatever you say, Snoozles. Just make sure to tell me when you're over your bi panic."

"This is a hate poem!" Sokka yelled at Toph, who was now cackling in delight. Sokka's face had probably visibly darkened in his embarrassment. 

"Fine line between love and hate, Snoozles!" They teased. "I'm going to bully Aang now, enjoy your not-love poetry!" Sokka wasn't able to get the last word in as Toph went underground to escape from the conversation.

Stupid benders.

Something in Toph's words caught up to Sokka. A fine line between love and hate. Love and hate, hate and love. Sokka hated Zuko. Sokka loved Katara, loved his dad, loved Bato, loved Aang, loved Suki, loved Yue. He loved a lot of people. There was a fire line between love and hate. Sokka's love for Katara could quickly turn sour at times, but they were siblings and they stuck together. Sokka loved his dads, even though he didn't see them as often. Sokka loved Aang because he was a good friend, a goofy 12-year-old friend but a friend nonetheless. His partner in idiotic crime. Sokka loved Suki, she was strong and beautiful and could kick his ass any day of the week. None of these bonds were there _because_ of the soul marks. The soul marks were there because of the bonds.

Suddenly, two words that had never collided in his mind before met in a terrifying moment of lightning-shock clarity. Positive and negative forced together like they had been wanting to connect this whole time.

Zuko and love.

As much as he tried to banish the thoughts from his mind, he couldn't. Once together, they were combined.

 _Oh_.

Oh no.

-

Sokka locks eyes with Zuko a second time.

He's exactly the way he saw in the swamp. His hair is shorn short. He looks tired in the way that it hurts you to the bone, makes you want to stay in bed, leaves you chasing after the nothingness of sleep. Sokka could understand that feeling. "Zuko." Sokka greets.

Zuko looks surprised to be spoken to. "Sokka." He greets, voice raspy. Sokka feels something leap in his chest at that.

Something feels right when they fight side by side.

Here's how it goes.

There is a girl who has been on a chase. Her fingers are numb with lightning, and her head is numb from the pain. Her heart is wrenched in anger. The head, the heart, the hand.

There is a soldier-prince who is everything he wanted and everything he hoped never to be. His feet are aching and his back is tired. He has no goal. He is neither soldier nor prince. But.

He is something.

There is a warrior who despite himself cares. He is in denial, but he can't deny that this feels right. There is something beating through his heart. There is something lighter than hope lifting him up. There is something heavier than doubt weighing him down.

There is a pause.

There is a burst of fire in the air that is blindingly blue. It is fueled by anger and rage. Helplessness.

There is recognition in Katara's eyes.

There is a burst of lightning that shoots through the air. A warning sign.

(Somewhere in the Northern Water Tribe, there is a princess who traces the lightning soul mark that runs up her leg. She feels a jolt.)

(Somewhere much closer, there is a girl who feels the eclipse on her back ache.)

A cry rings out.

"Uncle!" The scream rips through the air.

There is anger, there is rage.

There is a truce.

Huh.

That wasn't supposed to happen.

-

Zuko glared at the ground. Sokka found that he honestly didn't care. Tui and La, Zuko was so stupid. At this point, it wasn't even about the fact that he was helping _Zuko_ of all people, it was that Zuko wasn't able to suck up his pride and accept their help. Katara had already given up.

Sokka couldn't find it in himself to give up.

"Zuko." He spoke. He put a hand on Zuko's shoulder. Right where Sokka's Bird soulmate would be if it were on Zuko's back. Zuko didn't say anything. "Let us help you."

Zuko finally turned his face to meet Sokka's gaze. "Fine." He spoke, voice quiet, broken.

Sokka found that he wanted to piece Zuko back together.

Sokka ignored this.

Zuko finally stood, his shoulders were shaking. "Help him." Zuko choked out.

Katara, despite her anger, couldn't leave a person to die. "Fine." She said, moving with her water flask to where Iroh lay prone.

This was the first time that Zuko and Sokka hadn't met on hostile terms.

"So." Toph greeted. "Who are you and what do you want with tea Uncle?"

Zuko's brow furrowed. "What? That's my Uncle."

Sokka glared at Toph. "Toph. This is Zuko of the Fire Nation."

Toph suddenly sobered. "Oh. I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Your dad," Toph said quietly.

There was a moment of tense silence. Sokka broke it. "So, what've you been doing?" Despite his tiredness, the adrenaline from the fight kept him standing. Aang had already passed out.

Zuko shrugged. "Stuff."

"Enlightening," Sokka commented deadpan. Zuko snorted. That sent something fluttering through Sokka's chest.

"So. Who's side are you on?" Toph asked callously. Sokka stiffened.

Zuko seemed to have been ignoring this question himself. "My own," Zuko stated. "I don't know."

Sokka clapped Zuko on the shoulder. "Tell us when you find out. Toph isn't afraid of murder." Toph's wide grin agreed with this statement. Zuko gulped.

"Uh. Just how powerful are you guys?"

Sokka shrugged. "If any of us were just slightly more unhinged, then the war would have been over. However, we are at least 10 times more powerful when we have Suki."

Zuko seemed even more nervous. "What's a Suki?"

Toph had a maniacal smile, and if Sokka didn't say anything to Zuko do _deny_ that 'a Suki' was a giant Water Tribe bomb... well, who was going to say any different?

-

Here is how it goes.

There is a sandbender. There is a library.

There is a child who can't deal with both.

There is a pain a hundred years old.

There are plans to go to Ba Sing Se.

Sokka, however, is unaware of this, as he is high on cactus juice.

-

Here's how it went.

There is a Serpent's Pass.

There are several near-death experiences.

There was something going on.

Suki had been almost distant. Sokka understood, and he had, for a while, had a sneaking suspicion that Suki and he were not romantic soulmates.

"Suki," Sokka greeted. Suki glanced up at him. The moon was high in the sky, and it reminded him of Yue. Yue had wanted to travel for a while, and it pained him when Arnook said that she couldn't travel with them. He pushed away thoughts of Yue, this wasn’t about her. "We need to talk," He stated.

Suki stood. "We do."

Sokka motioned to a more secluded area. Suki followed. "I... I think you and I know that we aren't romantic soulmates."

Suki pursed her lips. "Yeah. I'm sorry, I've been trying to figure it out myself. I met her already."

Sokka frowned. "Does she treat you well? Does she make you happy?"

Suki's grin lit the area brighter than the full moon. "She does."

Sokka couldn't help but smile, Suki's lovesick grin was contagious. "I know you don't need my approval, but I'm happy for you."

"Thank you, Sokka." Suki smiled. For a moment, it was just the two of them under the stars and full moon, and friends is all they had to be.

-

Ba Sing Se.

A literary genius.

What do you get when you put this together?

Sokka pondered this. There was one small problem, though. He was thinking this as he was being flung at very high speeds out of the haiku building. One syllable. Gross.

It is at this moment that Sokka realizes that he has met all of his soulmates except for one. He knew who Moon, Arrow, Fan, and Belt (his family was so obvious it didn’t really count as a soulmate he had to discover). All except for Bird, which meant that Bird was his romantic soulmate.

Weird.

He got a split second of nothing right before slamming directly into a haybale.

Ow.

-

A stroke of brilliance! A way to defeat the Fire Nation from right beneath them! Sokka drew up the plans. The child's drawing was just the general concept, just so he knew the final product's goal. It was below, _sub_. It was underwater so _marine_. A submarine!

Surprisingly, he was amazing at drawing schematics and blueprints.

Aang looked over his shoulder when he was finalizing it. "Hey! That's my soul mark!"

Sokka was confused. He hadn't even thought about Aang's metal-fish soul mark since Aang came out of the iceberg.

Fuck.

" _I'm_ the weird one!" Sokka cried in anger and revelation.

Aang patted his shoulder. "I'm sure this will be amazing!"

Sokka slumped over his desk. “I called myself weird...”

-

The day that they got Appa back, Sokka fell ill. He was passed out for most of the day. This wasn't his own illness, his soulmate's illness was so strong that it had transferred to Sokka.

Jerk.

"Who are you?" A voice asked. It was layered and that made it unfamiliar. It was young and old all at the same time. It was the same person, but Sokka couldn’t tell who this person was.

Sokka tried to speak. "Who are you?" Around them was blackness. There was a boy about his age. He was wearing a mask of red flowers.

"Bird." The actual word that Bird said was covered.

Sokka tried giving his own name. "Sokka." He said, though he somehow knew that was not what the other boy said. "You need help." He said suddenly, unsure of how he knew this.

"I'm so confused. Who am I, what do I stand for?"

"You stand for yourself. You stand against the people who hurt you." Sokka stated. "You will get hurt again. Others have been hurt. This is true, but you need to think for yourself."

Bird paused. "Thank you."

Sokka hoped that Bird would make the right decision.

-

There is a cavern full of crystals.

There is a choice to be made.

Here is how it goes.

Zuko turns to Sokka. "I'm sorry." He puts his heart and soul into those words. Sokka's soul mark aches.

"What are you doing," Sokka demands.

"Saving you." It's the easiest choice that Zuko ever made.

He attacks the Avatar.

He attacks Azula.

Zuko has been alone. He's not going to stop now.

Sokka aches and turns away. In the saddest sense, he understands. Azula is enraged. Azula does not understand.

Here is how it goes.

There is a place where the roads cross in the forest. Both directions bring terror. Both paths lead to salvation.

There is a place where Zuko stands. He doesn't know what path he started to walk on. He looks behind him and sees the broken steps of a soldier. He sees the arrogance of a prince.

There is a place where Sokka stands. His is the path of a hardened warrior. There is a loss in his footsteps. There is a sword that is yet to be forged.

There is a place where Azula stands. Her path has been painstakingly carved of her own pain. She is driven by the flames behind her. She does not run toward something. She does not know who she is.

There is a place where Uncle stands. His path is carved of grey. It has been walked. He has never regretted a single step. Maybe he should, but that was the past.

There is a place where Zuko stands. He has to choose.

Zuko chooses to protect Sokka. He chooses to save Azula. He chooses to stay with Uncle.

He stands alone.

-

Sokka understood. "He... did he betray us?" Katara voiced her concerns.

Sokka shook his head. “He did this for himself.” It was strange how much he understood, how he seemed to know Zuko’s exact thought process. “There’s more to Azula than we know. Zuko knows that, he’s doing this to protect her. He can’t leave his Uncle either. I don’t think he’s on their side, but there’s no other way that he can save them.”

Katara huffs. “Fine.” She cradles Aang in her arms. He’s tired from fighting all the Dai Li agents. Azula and Zuko had left Aang for ‘dead’, but Zuko would have known that Aang could take them all with the Avatar State.

They board Appa.

There’s work to do.

-

A forge, a sword, a meteor.

Pulled from the quench is a sword black as the night sky. Darker than the ocean’s roiling waves. It was reflective like an instrument that Sokka had seen once. He thinks it was called a pianoforte.

Sokka smiled as he swung the blade. There was not going to be a sword like this again.

It was perfect for him.

(Somewhere in the depths of a bleak palace, a prince feels his soul mark tinge with a sense of _rightness_.)

-

An invasion, a plan, an army.

Sokka spots a ship that makes the crescent moon on his forearm buzz. Katara clearly feels something similar, touching right on the spirit water vial soul mark.

Sokka lights up in a grin when he sees Yue again. “Yue!” He cheers, running toward her. Yue catches him in a hug. This is the first time that Yue is wearing shorts. They reach her knees, and Sokka can see the realistic lightning soul mark that runs up her leg. 

Here’s how it went.

There was a princess of ice, calculating and cold without remorse. She had one goal, to stall. When the eclipse was over, she could blast them with lightning and get out of there.

There is a princess of warmth who is part of the moon. She held the eclipse for a moment more, it gives them the opportunity to get an advantage in this fight.

“What is that.” Azula spits. “Mocking me, are you?” She glares at the soul mark on Yue’s leg.

“That’s my soul mark.” Yue says.

Azula suddenly paused, then fury coloured her features. “Get out.” She was angry now. “Leave me! I don’t want you!”

Yue was confused. So was Sokka. “What do you mean?” Sokka says. “Yue is literally just here!”

Azula had a wild look in her eyes. “You. You’re the reason I am branded with an eclipse on my back. Leave. Or I’ll shoot you full of lightning!” Azula was trying to appear confident but Sokka could hear the fear. “I’ll shoot you all full of lightning! I don’t care! I don’t care!” Sokka reaches out towards her. It sounded like she cared a lot, if not too much.

“Azula.” Yue says, and Azula flinches. “You don’t have to fight-“

Suddenly, Yue brings a hand to her head, face screwing in pain. The eclipse ends. Azula is angry, and Toph barely has enough time to throw up a rock wall between Azula and them before Azula’s fingers sparks and she stays true too her promise to shoot them full of lightning.

As they run away, Sokka felt his Bird soulmate flair in electrical shocks. He hissed in pain.

Yue was sad. “We lost.” Yue is thinking of something else. “I met my soulmate.” She whispered in shock. Katara put a comforting hand on Yue’s shoulder.

“It’s okay. Maybe she can get better.”

Yue was inconsolable, but she put on a smile for Katara’s sake. “Maybe.”

(Somewhere deep within those tunnels, a boy directs lightning and he rejects the destiny that his father wrote.)

(Somewhere much closer to the group in those tunnels a girl breaks down and cries. The destiny that she thought was cemented in her scars on her heart begin to rewrite itself.)

-

Here is how it goes.

Two soulmates meet. One has been chasing. One has been running away.

A truce is made, adding to the count of others.

This was supposed to happen.

There is a boy who grew up with turtleducks and fire lilies. There is a boy who never learned how to bloom.

There is a boy who wields a weapon he crafted. There is a boy who walks the shores of home and resents himself.

Sokka meets his eyes, and for once he doesn't push down that feeling of _right_ but instead he embraces it.

The boy who is neither soldier nor prince nor nothing, smiles. "Hello, Zuko here."

Sokka laughs. He's a dumbass. His sword has been drawn in a split second of panic.

Zuko's eye widens. "Where did you get that sword?"

Sokka frowns. He looks at his Space Sword. "I made it myself. Why?"

Zuko begins to take off his shirts.

"Woah, woah, at least buy a guy dinner first!" Sokka flirts despite the slap he gets from his sister. Aang is covering Toph's eyes. Katara is covering Aang's eyes. Suki is covering Katara's. Zuko turns around. On his back is- "Space Sword?!" Sokka cries. He drops the sword in confusion. That's a soul mark. His soul mark of Space Sword is on Zuko's back.

Sokka’s jaw drops. “ _You’re_ Bird?!”

Zuko is confused. “What?”

Sokka grins. “Well. I guess you’re my romantic soulmate.”

There are jaw drops throughout the temple.

-

“Zuko.” A boy says. It feels like coming home.

“Sokka.” A boy says. It feels like the home he never had.

There is something magical in how they collide. Sokka has never been one for believing in ‘spiritual mumbo jumbo’ but he is unable to deny the connection that he has with Zuko. He swings his Space Sword into Zuko’s dual dao. There’s a _clang!_ of metal on metal. Gritted teeth as they get so close that they can feel each other’s breath on their face.

“Jerk bender.” Sokka insults with a smile.

“Asshole.” Zuko bites back, but there is a hint of light joking behind it.

“Hey gay people, can you stop being gay for a minute so I can train Aang?” A voice cuts in. It’s Toph (who else would it be?).

Zuko and Sokka break away from each other, both blushing. It was a hot day, and neither of them had their shirts on. Aang waved. “Hi!” Toph was standing unimpressed with their arms crossed over their chest. They tapped their foot in annoyance.

Zuko inclined his head politely. “Aang.” He greeted.

Sokka motioned to one of the exits. “Hey, Zuko, there’s a garden that we could go to.”

Zuko nods, ignoring Toph’s calls of _‘Gaaaay’_ (as if Toph didn’t only like girls themselves). “Let’s go.”

There is a moment of silence as they walk to the garden. Neither of them had put their shirts on- they had forgotten them back at the training ring. Zuko meets Sokka's eyes. Sokka feels a moment of wild wanting. "Can I kiss you?" He blurts out before he's fully processed the words himself.

Zuko furrows his brow. "You like me?"

Sokka purses his lips. "No. I want to kiss you because I hate you," he deadpans sarcastically. "I'm kidding," Sokka says. They seem to be standing so close yet so far away from each other.

"You... _like-like_ me?" Zuko splutters as if the idea of being loved by someone is a fever dream.

Sokka gives a chuckle and a smile. "Yes, I _like-like_ you."

They share their first kiss in the garden, and everything melts into place. Fire and water finally sedated.

It's closed mouth and a bit hasty, but it's perfect. Sokka's never kissed anyone before. Zuko is a bit more experienced, but experience can't trump the clumsiness of Sokka. Zuko falls into it. Sokka closes his eyes, and that is the moment that he falls for Zuko.

-

Sokka was very convinced he could write a book. _How to ignore the homoromantic subtext with your soulmate in your prison break 101_. It’d make thousands.

Sokka was 100% sure that he had died when Zuko smirked at him like that with the _fire breath oh spirits kiss me_ -

(Zuko has a similar panic as Sokka fake punches him. He bites back a smile as Sokka reassures him that he’ll be okay.)

-

Here is how it goes.

There is a comet. There are airships. There is a broken leg and a moment of pain.

Suki returns because she is amazing.

There is an Agni Kai.

“Get out.” Azula growls. She has finally seen Yue after a fight with Zuko. There’s something off in the way she stares.

Yue holds firm in her stare. “I won’t leave.”

Azula’s fingers spark dangerously. “Then I’ll fight.” There is hesitation.

“You don’t have to do this, Lala.” Zuko pleads.

Azula hesitates.

Katara puts her hands up in a non-threatening gesture. “You don’t have to do this. We won’t hurt you if you don’t hurt us. We can help you.” Katara keeps her stare on Azula. “I know what it’s like to be scared.”

Yue joins in. “I know what it’s like to feel obligated to your people, your duty. But destroying yourself isn’t the way to do this.” Yue takes a step forward. Azula immediately turns her head to Yue. “I’m not going to hurt you.” It is said with conviction.

“Everyone hurts me. Everyone leaves." Azula spits like it leaves a bad taste in her mouth.

"I promise you I won't leave." The sincerity in Yue's voice seems to leave Azula with cautious optimism. A thin line of careful trust.

And it is there that the war is won. Not in the shrieks of lightning that paint the sky, but in the broken cries of a girl who wanted to be the best.

-

“So.” Sokka says to Katara. “You got your eyes on any hot pieces?” He jokingly impersonates an overly-confident misogynist. It was an inside joke between them.

Katara glares at him. “I already found my romantic soulmate.” She admits, surprisingly serious. Sokka lights up.

“Awesome! What’s he like? Or is it a she, I’m the last person to judge. Don’t say it’s Hahn because if it’s Hahn I’ll-“

“It’s a girl.” Katara cuts Sokka off. Sokka exhales a sigh of relief.

“Thank Tui and La. Any chance you’ll tell me who’s caught your heart, oh dear sister?” Sokka accentuates this with over-the-top eyelash fluttering. Katara shoves him away. Sokka laughs at how he’s making her annoyed.

“It’s... we don’t want to go public yet. Don’t tell anyone about this.” Katara begged. Sokka put one hand on his heart and the other on Katara’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Katara, I swear on the honour of my beautiful boyfriend, Zuko, that I will not reveal that you’re dating.”

“Even to Zuko.” Katara demands.

“Even to Zuko.” Sokka repeats. He dropped the theatrics. “Seriously, sis, I won’t do that to you. That’s just a dick move.”

Katara smiles. “Thank you, Sokka.”

-

Sokka was an idiot. He was a full-ass fool. A dumbass, one might say.

His sister. Suki. His sister and Suki. Suki and Katara. Katara and Suki.

They had been together. _Together_ together for years. Since before the Western Air Temple. Since the Serpent's Pass.

Then again he should not have had this when he saw them making out.

“ _Ooooooh._ ” Sokka says. “You guys are _together._ “ He points at them.

Suki is a furious red. “Get out.” She blushes.

Sokka puts his hands up, backing slowly out of the room. “Make sure to lock the door next time.”

He leaves his sister to do her thing.

-

Here's how it goes.

Azula sits in a room that isn't anything like she expected. It isn't a prison, and it's... somehow better than the palace. They give her medication to help with the hallucinations and paranoia, but that isn't all. They are teaching her how to love. They are teaching her it's okay to be afraid.

Sounds fake, but okay.

Today is a good day, Azula could confidently say. It wasn't like a bad day where everything was too much but too little at once. It wasn't a day where she was simply going through the motions, it was one of the days that she could smile and mean it.

A knock on her door. "Azula. You have a visitor." Her nurse says. She is good at her job.

Azula frowns. "If it's Zuzu, tell him that I wanted the strawberry mochi, not the green tea mochi."

The nurse smiles. "It's not your brother."

Azula gets a moment of confusion before the door is pushed open. Azula's mouth falls open in shock. "Yue?"

Yue smiles. "Hey, Azula."

For once, it isn't a forced smile that shows on Azula's face. It was a genuine moment of _right_. "Hey yourself," Azula says. Yue sits beside Azula. Azula tenses.

Yue notices. "You can lean on me if you want." Azula takes a moment before moving aside the braid of brown hair on Yue's shoulder so Azula can lean her head on it. She inhales the smell of water and vanilla. It smells like comfort. Yue has a book in her hands. "I know you like this book, so I brought it to you." Azula nods. "Do you want me to read it to you?"

Azula hums for a moment. "Sure." She whispers.

Yue opens it and begins to speak. It's a voice that resonated throughout her chest. There was something peaceful in the sound of Yue's voice, the smell of the shampoo that she used. The warmth of Yue. Soon, Azula wasn't even paying attention to the book (she could ask to borrow it later) but was instead feeling her eyelids go heavy in a pleasant way.

Azula drifted off into a dreamless sleep, surrounded by the person she loved the most.

-

It has been ten years since the end of the war.

Every morning, Sokka and Zuko spar. Sokka has recovered his Space Sword. Zuko totally isn't the Blue Spirit, no sir, he just uses dual dao because it's cool. Every evening, they feed the turtleducks and unwind after a long day. Yue took on the mantle of the Northern Cheif. Katara took on the role of the Southern Cheif. It's a difficult job to rebuild their broken tribe, but with hard work and preservation, they have picked up the pieces. Things are looking up.

Sokka doesn't pretend he didn't cry when Gran Gran reunites with her soulmate Hama.

It took years for Azula to recover. In a way, she still won't ever recover. It's hard to bounce back from a broken childhood, but Azula is strong. There are bad days, but they are growing fewer and farther between. Zuko cried when he thought about how he was able to have a heart-to-heart with Azula without something exploding. Yue and Azula got engaged last month. Azula had cried more than she'd like to admit. Sokka had cried more than Azula, Yue, and Zuko combined, which was saying something because Zuko cried a lot. Azula never thought she'd get to a place in her life that she could marry her soulmate, and Yue never thought she'd live a life where she could marry her soulmate. There were happy tears all around.

There was also a journey of self-acceptance. Yue apparently was something the Earth Kingdom called asexual. Jet somehow managed to crawl out of the woodworks to announce that he was something he called aromantic. Sokka was supportive of them nonetheless.

Toph was being Toph. They were advocating for better parenting, stopping the prejudice against disabled people, as well as acceptance of those who weren't a boy or girl. It didn't hurt that the Avatar technically wasn't a girl or a boy either, so Toph was being epic. Last Sokka heard, Toph was starting up a metalbending school. They personally weren't going to run it, only get it in place that it was in a position that it could be run without their constant supervision (pun unintended). (Toph had confessed to Sokka in confidence that they were going to start a halfway home for those who had run away from their parents. Sokka promised to help them with this as long as Toph stopped moving landmarks just enough that Sokka's maps were always wrong (as if he wouldn't help them anyway).)

Mei and Ty Lee had gotten married. Good for them, they would dominate the world if they weren't so busy growing flowers together.

Aang and Teo spent their time rebuilding the air temples, adopting children and they visited the Great Library to get as many books about Air Nomad culture as they could. Teo had a knack for inventing things to make it easier for those who couldn't use their legs, so that was a side project that he worked on.

Aang met his cousins. His mothers had children and passed on their culture, and Aang's cousins were like 30 years older than him but that was okay. There were still Air Nomads. Aang was overjoyed. Teo and Aang were still young, but they had a lifetime ahead of them. The Mechanist was always having a field day coordinating with Sokka as they both panicked about how to air-baby-proof cribs and bedrooms. Sokka smiled at the memories.

This morning he had received a letter from Katara. She and Suki were finally going to go public with their relationship. (It was not because they purposefully kept it a secret all these years, but the years after the war were chaotic, and they didn't have time to think about the semantics of revealing the secret of their relationship.) Sokka definitely didn't shed a tear when Katara told him that she planned to propose within the next five years, no sir.

Sokka laid with his back to the grass, facing the sky. He had his hands behind his head. If you had asked Sokka ten years ago where he thought he'd be, it was definitely not waiting for the Fire Lord to get his ass out of a meeting so they could feed the turtleducks. His life wasn't sunshine and rainbows (there was chronic pain from his broken leg on the airship, there were still things wrong in the world), but it was better than it had ever been.

Sokka heard something, and he opened his eyes to see Zuko. "Hey, Zuky!" Sokka patted the space beside him

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Hey, can you sit up?" He asked, slightly nervous.

Sokka sat up, ignoring how his wolf tail was probably a mess. "Yeah?"

Zuko was fiddling with a paper in his hands. "I, uh, I'm going to read this to you."

Sokka blinked. There was something more going on, but he wasn't going to stop Zuko. "Okay."

Zuko took a breath.  
" _I know it is soon.  
But I love you like the moon.  
Love you like the sun._  
_I love you like grass._  
You're steady beneath my feet."  
Zuko took a breath as he finished the last stanza. " _Sokka, marry me_?"

Sokka is awestruck. He had read that reading poetry was how the Fire Nation proposed, but now... Sokka pulled out the Fire Lily that he had saved. This was how his parents proposed to each other, this better work. "You asshole, I was going to propose first." He jokes, just to calm his racing nerves. Zuko's eye widened. "Will you make me the second happiest man in the Fire Nation?"

Zuko's brow furrowed. "Who's the first?"

"You, obviously." Sokka breaks off into nervous laughter. "Oh spirits, we're both idiots."

Zuko surges forward to capture Sokka's lips in a kiss. They roll around on the ground like that, laughing like teens again. Sokka carefully keeps the flower from crushing. Zuko keeps the paper from wrinkling. Eventually, Zuko wins the tumble and leans over Sokka. "I do." He whispered, just for Sokka. Sokka smiled like the luckiest man in the world.

"I do too," Sokka says. It's all they need.

-

Later, in a carefully preserved carved wooded box, lies a haiku with a fire lily rested on it. A soldier-prince and a warrior. A story of love to be told.

Later, the Avatar stands at a wedding reception. He is to tell the story of Zuko and Sokka, the way that they met, the way they are. He smiles and says, "Here's how it goes."

-

**Author's Note:**

> Who the fuck was going to tell me that Heat Waves is the name of a popular MCYT fanfic???????
> 
> Also Azula and Zuko are trans fight me. I couldn't find a good place to mention it in the story, but that's okay.
> 
> I wrote this in two days.


End file.
